1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of licensing technology. In particular, the present invention relates to a license reallocation system and method.
2. Related Art
Electronic systems and circuits have made a significant contribution towards the advancement of modern society and are utilized in a number of applications to achieve advantageous results. Numerous electronic technologies such as digital computers, calculators, audio devices, video equipment, and telephone systems facilitate increased productivity and cost reduction in analyzing and communicating data, ideas and trends in most areas of business, science, education and entertainment. Systems providing these advantageous results are often realized through the use of proprietary digital information. Distributing the proprietary information while maintaining adequate licensing control is often problematic. For example, it is usually difficult to prevent illicit distribution of licensed digital information while allowing limited legitimate transferal or reallocation of the licensed digital information from one piece of hardware to another piece of hardware.
There are numerous underlying technologies that make physical distribution and copying of digital information easy. For example, software programs, music, pictures, movies and the like can typically be distributed in a variety of mediums such as on a disk (e.g., CD, DVD, etc.) or over a network (e.g., Internet, World Wide Web, etc.). However, the ease of physically distributing and copying the digital information also typically makes control of proprietary interests difficult. Proprietary interests in digital information are usually conveyed through limited licenses. However, once the digital information is transferred it is usually difficult to maintain license limitations and unauthorized distribution (e.g., illicit copies) of the digital information. The remoteness of the distribution from direct control of the original proprietary owners (e.g., distribution to numerous dispersed end users) also makes direct control over unauthorized distribution difficult.
There have been numerous traditional attempts at administering digital information licenses. One conventional approach is to attempt to tie a license key to a particular piece of hardware. While this approach may offer some protection for the original proprietary owner of the digital information, the end user is significantly restricted. For example, the end user typically is not allowed to transfer the same key and associated digital information onto another device. These licenses are often issued against a globally unique hardware identification number (e.g., NIC MAC address, system serial number, etc.) that is constant over the life span of the hardware device.
Limiting a license to a particular piece of hardware can be problematic for end users in a number of situations. For example, advances in hardware technology often offer potential for significant performance increases and if an end user purchases a new or upgraded device the digital information is not transferable to the new device under the terms of the license. Many times the content of the digital information does not change (e.g., songs, pictures, movies, legacy software programs, archived data, etc.) but a much better device for presenting the data (e.g., new computer system, music player, etc.) becomes available but can not be utilized with the digital information since the license key is “tied” to legacy equipment. License keys tied to a particular piece of equipment can also present a number of problems in a dynamic enterprise environment with a significant number of devices. In this case the portability of the digital information even within the enterprise is significantly limited.
One traditional approach to license transfer or re-allocation is a manual approach. For example, an end user asks for a new license key for the new hardware and promises not to use the old license key. However, this approach can have a number of limitations. Manual approaches are usually costly and typically do not scale up well, the greater the scale (e.g., larger distribution base) the more manual support required. In addition, as the licensing information increases and more human intervention is involved the greater the likelihood of mistakes occurring. Manual approaches are based upon trust and are often susceptible to abuse (e.g., license violations, illicit copying, use on an unauthorized device(s), etc.). These limitations often result in manual approaches being restricted to exceptional rather than routine circumstances.
Some conventional approaches involve dongle based licensing. A dongle is a piece of hardware attached to the serial port of a hardware unit. License keys are issued against the unique dongle serial number. Attaching the dongle to different hardware (e.g., through the serial port) carries licenses to the new hardware from the original hardware. However, the dongle based licensing approaches also often have a number of limitations. Dongle based licensing is hardware based and involves maintenance and management of a hardware inventory. Dongle based licensing is typically relatively costly and again requires manufactures to provide human intervention. Susceptible to fraud is also a concern in dongle based licensing systems. For example, unauthorized users can typically intercept or “snoop” the data communication between a hardware unit and dongle unit to illicitly retrieve license information.